The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) released its annual conference awards with three SUNY New Paltz men's basketball players earning an All-SUNYAC honor:  guards A.J. Knight and Sean St. Lucia and wing Dakoda Smith. 
 
The three selections are the most Hawks named to the all-conference team since the 2013 season. Additionally, Smith was named the SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Year, a first for the men's basketball program. In another first for SUNY New Paltz men's basketball, head coach Keith Kenney and assistants Mike Duffy and Mike Jagacki earned SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
 
To view the full 2024-25 All SUNYAC Men's Basketball team, click here.
 
Coming off a second consecutive sterling season, the Hawks posted an overall record of 18-7, tying for the second most season wins with the 1998-99 ECAC Championship team. The team's 14-4 SUNYAC record was their best conference finish ever, earning them their first ever No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. The 18-7 record boosted coach Keith Kenney's seven-year career total to 94-87, moving him into second among SUNY New Paltz coaches total career wins.
 
To read more about A.J. Knight, Sean St. Lucia, Dakoda Smith and the New Paltz coaching staff, continue below:

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First-Team All-SUNYAC

A.J. Knight (senior, guard)
Lakeview, NY/Holy Trinity Diocesan HS
 
Knight earns his second straight All-SUNYAC First -Team selection, becoming only the third Hawk to do so. He joins the company of SUNY New Paltz Athletics Hall of Famer Joe Facciolli (1965, 1966) and head coach Keith Kenney (1998, 1999)
 
For the second consecutive season, Knight, who started in all 24 games he played, led the Hawks in scoring with 322 points and 13.4 points per game. He was the team's leader in minutes played with 710, was first with 67 assists and in free throw percentage at .847. He further contributed 63 rebounds, 28 steals and had five blocks. Knight scored double figures in 19 games and was the top scorer in eight of those matchups. He also topped the 1,000-career point mark against SUNY Oswego, tallying 721 in two seasons with the Hawks.
 
In SUNYAC play, he started all 17 games, scoring 233 points for a 13.7 points per game average, while his 42 conference assists led the team. Knight tallied a season-high of 27 points against SUNY Canton, where he hit six 3-pointers and had season highs of seven rebounds against John Jay College, seven assists against the University of Redlands and four steals against SUNY Fredonia. 
 
In the SUNYAC rankings, Knight stands 11th in points, fifth in assists, ninth in minutes played, 16th in steals and 20 in assists/turnover ratio.
 
Knight scored in double-figures in both of the Hawks' postseason games, netting a team-high 19 in a semifinal win over Plattsburgh, sinking 4-for-11 from 3-point range to aid in the win and then added 15 points in the championship round en route to his second SUNYAC All-Tournament team recognition.
 

Second-Team All-SUNYAC

Sean St. Lucia (graduate/guard)
Niskayuna, NYH/Niskayuna HS
 
A staple of the program throughout his tenure in orange and blue, Sean St. Lucia earned a well-overdue first selection to the annual All-SUNYAC Men's Basketball Team, a fitting conclusion to an outstanding career as a Hawk.
 
Second all-time in career assists, St. Lucia's backcourt play has been instrumental in SUNY New Paltz's emergence as a SUNYAC contender.
 
He started 20 of 21 games played in 2024, with 533 minutes on the court, fifth most on the team. His 8.3 points per game on 175 points scored also ranked fifth. His 60 assists and 35 steals were good for second on the team, and he scored double figures in eight games, leading the team in scoring in three of those matchups.
 
In SUNYAC play, St. Lucia started 14 of 15 games, with 405 court minutes. His 9.6 points per game on 144 points were third among the Hawks; his 41 assists were third and his 27 steals were second in conference play.
 
St. Lucia had a season-high 18 points twice, against Potsdam and Morrisville. He dropped season's best seven field goals against Cortland and shot 5-of-6 from the 3-point line against Potsdam. He dished out eight assists against Fredonia, with seven rebounds against Morrisville and four steals against Cortland.
 
In the SUNYAC rankings, St. Lucia stands ninth in both assists and steals. He posted a combined 32 points, six rebounds, eight assists and three steals in postseason play, including a team-high 17 points in the championship game, earning his second SUNYAC All-Tournament team honors.
 
St. Lucia leaves with 425 career assists, 65 shy of Eric Bell's (1992-96) all-time program record, while adding 869 points, 398 rebounds and 126 steals, which is tied for seventh most in Hawks history.  


Defensive Player of the Year/Second-Team All-SUNYAC
 
Dakoda Smith (senior/wing)
Shinnecock Indian Reservation/Southampton HS
 
Smith had a breakout senior season with career-best totals in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and steals with his overall play throughout the season earning him his first conference recognition as an All-SUNYAC Second Team pick, along with garnering SUNYAC Defensive Player of the Year honors.
 
Smith played in 23 games, starting 21 and was second in minutes played with 626. He scored 249 points for a 10.8 points per game average, while his .529 field goal percentage led the team as he owned the paint inside scoring a chunk of his offense this season.
 
Additionally, Smith led SUNY New Paltz with 175 rebounds, 48 steals and 27 blocks and was third on the team with 54 assists. He scored double-digit points in 11 games, leading the team in three of those matchups, and was tops in rebounding in six games and had a team-high five double-doubles performances.
 
Smith scored a season high of 22 points against SUNY Canton on 10 made field goals. He pulled down 14 rebounds against Oswego, had five assists and five blocks against Fredonia and dished out six assists against Cortland for season-highs.
 
He started all 17 SUNYAC games, was second in minutes played with 481 and second in points with 11.9 per game from 202 scored on a .542 shooting percentage. Smith led all Hawks with 138 rebounds, 35 steals, 21 blocks and was third with 40 assists. In the SUNYAC rankings, Smith is first in steals, fourth in rebounds, fifth in blocked shots and third in field goal percentage.
 
For his career, he leaves racking up 547 points, 418 rebounds, 137 assists, 110 steals and 70 blocks with the latter ranking eighth all-time in SUNY New Paltz men's basketball history.


SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year

Keith Kenney (head coach, seventh season)
Mike Duffy (assistant coach, third season)
Mike Jagacki (assistant coach, second season)
 
SUNY New Paltz head coach Keith Kenney and assists Mike Duffy and Mike Jagacki had a formidable task ahead of them for the 2024-25 season, coming hot on the heels of last season's historic season. How would this new edition of SUNY New Paltz respond to the loss of last year's two top scorers and rebounders and the proverbial bullseye as the defending SUNYAC champions? Yet SUNYAC's Coaching Staff of the Year rose to the challenge as did their charges and rattled off another outstanding performance on the court, with the outstanding team cohesion that made 2023-24 great carrying over to the current year. 
 
Kenney has been a winner for his entire basketball career and that drive, and determination has become a hallmark of his Hawks teams. Now the only New Paltz men's basketball coach with a career winning record, Kenney, with partners Duffy and Jagacki, rightfully earns SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year honor.
 
The coaching staff led the team to a 19-8 overall record and 14-4 SUNYAC mark, the best ever in program history, leading to the team's first regular season title to earn the No. 1 seed and hosting duties of the SUNYAC Tournament. And, after the team made their first ever appearance in the SUNYAC Final last year — where they won the program's first championship — they secured a spot in the championship round for a second-straight season. Despite the finals loss, the program still finished with a .704 winning percentage, the winningest to-date.  
 

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